Looking for advice on first job

[siphenx]

Hello,

I just quit my PhD in Physics with a Master's a couple of months back and have been looking for a job ever since. I've had a few interviews with banks, hedge funds and a few HFT firms but haven't gotten placed yet. I passed all the quantitative tests (teasers, puzzles, math ...) with flying colors but failed at either C++ programming (not fast or efficient enough) or experience (I only have a three months' internship). I've been brushing up on C++ on my own for a while but I really want to do real projects in a working environment. I'm willing to work for free but it's hard to find a position like that. Most firms don't care much about how much they pay you as long as you're competent so they'd rather pay more for someone with a lot of experience than have a fresh graduate (non PhD) volunteer. I'm also looking at some IT companies in the hope that I might work as a programmer for a couple of years and then switch gears back to finance. Does anyone have any advice on how to get the first job? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[C S]

Hello,

I just quit my PhD in Physics with a Master's a couple of months back and have been looking for a job ever since. I've had a few interviews with banks, hedge funds and a few HFT firms but haven't gotten placed yet. I passed all the quantitative tests (teasers, puzzles, math ...) with flying colors but failed at either C++ programming (not fast or efficient enough) or experience (I only have a three months' internship). I've been brushing up on C++ on my own for a while but I really want to do real projects in a working environment. I'm willing to work for free but it's hard to find a position like that. Most firms don't care much about how much they pay you as long as you're competent so they'd rather pay more for someone with a lot of experience than have a fresh graduate (non PhD) volunteer. I'm also looking at some IT companies in the hope that I might work as a programmer for a couple of years and then switch gears back to finance. Does anyone have any advice on how to get the first job? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Sorry to say it, but the best plan would have been to remain a PhD student and do an internship or two.

Working in non-finance IT and trying to switch is probably not a good idea. A lot of the experience financial services companies value isn't actually in the technical skills area but in knowing how to function in their kind of environment, eg can they count on you to not say something stupid in front of a business manager or trader, are you up to answering questions confidently and rapidly, are you good at keeping people posted, etc.

There are plenty of opportunities in technology that are non-finance related. Since you don't indicate any type of interest or reason why you are into finance (which is highly relevant to any advice on how you should continue), you don't leave the reader much choice but to assume you're just interested in the money, and the reality is the opportunities really aren't that lucrative once you factor in the work and the lifestyle.

 

[siphenx]

@C S
Thanks for the feedback. I apologize for not giving out the reasons I wanted to get into quant finace. In all honesty, money is sure a big factor. But it's not only about money. For one, I want to work at a place where I can still use what I've learned so far in school as I don't want to throw away altogether my superb quant skills from so many years of hardcore training and at the same time get my bill paid; for two, working as a quant is just a way for me to learn and grow. What I really want to do later is investment, starting up my own business or being an independent investor like Warren Buffett.

Quitting my PhD is not a decision I made in the heat of the moment. I've come to realize that academia was not for me and I was just not that into pure research. I understood that without a PhD or a lot of experience it would be rough to get a job in quant finance, but I didn't want to stick with something I was no long excited about at all.

A lot of the experience financial services companies value isn't actually in the technical skills area but in knowing how to function in their kind of environment

This is very good advice. I actually had an interview for a BA position but I wasn't very motivated since most of the work entailed playing with Excel and nothing else. But from your advice, it looks like I should've taken it just for experience.

I've made it clear about why I wanted to work as a quant. Any advice on how I should proceed would be appreciated.

 

[Keith Tan]

where are you located? i see whether i can help. pm me your email pls.

 

[Ian Kaplan]

One way to get software experience that you can show people is to work on open source projects. More and more this is a path that employers look at. I'd take a look at QuantLib (http://quantlib.org). These projects are all open to contributors and there are other people who will review and vet your code. So you will get feedback. If you make a contribution that people start using, this could help your career. It will also provide something you can reference to display your C++ chops.